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British Pig Producers Paying off Debt

UK - The UK pig sector is exporting 25 per cent of its output- including offal.

This is one of the reasons producers are currently able to pay offsome of their debt, for the first time in years, according to the National Pig Association (NPA).

The value of pig meat exports, including offals, last year was around £310m, with China accounting for £119m of this.

But what would happen if the swill-feeding ban were relaxed — resulting, almost inevitably sooner or later, in an outbreak of exotic disease?

Defra and BPEX have provided figures that show producers would suffer an almost immediate drop of 30p-40p a kilo, which would plunge every commercial pig unit in the country deep into the red.

Total deadweight value of United Kingdom pig meat last year was £1.22 billion, with exports accounting for a quarter of this.

An export ban would see the meat currently being exported diverted to the domestic market, and the offals being exported going to rendering plants.

As a result, the value of pig meat products currently being exported would plummet from £310m currently to about £110m — a loss of £200 million.

"There would also be a knock-on effect on prices for other products in the United Kingdom market, given an increase in supply, so the net effect would be about £320m," notes BPEX economist Stephen Howarth.